Wynne is hoping to break the current impasse and convince the prime minister to match the costs of developing the mineral rich region, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, in northern Ontario.

The Ontario government told CBC News last week it was surprised to hear the prime minister dismiss the development in the Ring of Fire as a provincial issue, given that repeated calls for the federal government to play a role in the project had gone unanswered in recent weeks.

Harper recently said "this is a project that is primarily under provincial jurisdiction because ultimately resources belong to the provinces and resource development is a provincial responsibility."

Rich in chromite, nickel and gold, the Ring of Fire is considered to be mining jackpot for the province, but Wynne is making the case that the federal government has a responsibility in the development and funding of the infrastructure required.

​In a letter to Harper on Nov. 8, Wynne said there is precedence for the federal government to fund infrastructure investments that can prove to yield national economic benefits.

She pointed to the $130 million the federal government provided to support the building of the Northwest Transmission Line project in B.C. and the $6.3 billion it gave Labrador in the form of a federal loan guarantee to support the Lower Churchill project.

The Ontario government has estimated the total capital investment for infrastructure in the range of $800 million to $1 billion, with the estimated costs of connecting the Ring of Fire communities to all-season access roads at $1.25 billion.

Wynne wrote to Harper on the same day she announced the creation of a new development corporation that would bring together private and public partners "to develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain the infrastructure" that supports access in and out of the Ring of Fire.​ The Ontario premier was hoping to count the federal government as a partner.

Adding to the challenges of developing the region, is a decision by Cliffs Natural Resources, a major U.S. mining company, to suspend its operations in the area.

Tim Hudak's Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath's New Democrats have blamed Ontario's Liberal government for botching the project.

Bob Rae, the chief negotiator and counsel for the Matawa First Nations, has called on both levels of government to stop squabbling over provincial jurisdiction and create some level of certainty for businesses and First Nations.